Chatting with a friend

This is something that I'd like to come back to later on. The AIM names have been changed to protect the innocent. ;-)

NotMySecondOpinion (11:34:22 PM): are you going to join the air force?
religiousfriend (11:34:37 PM): I'm not sure
religiousfriend (11:34:43 PM): they need leaders in the air force
religiousfriend (11:34:50 PM): I don't have much leadership experience
NotMySecondOpinion (11:36:27 PM): i think it would be good for you to join, but at the same time, i wouldn't want you to go
religiousfriend (11:36:37 PM): ah
religiousfriend (11:36:40 PM): why do you think so?
NotMySecondOpinion (11:37:16 PM): the military would give you discipline and direction
religiousfriend (11:37:27 PM): that's true
religiousfriend (11:37:36 PM): I don't know about direction
NotMySecondOpinion (11:37:38 PM): but its dangerous, even in the air force
religiousfriend (11:37:40 PM): but discipline, yes
NotMySecondOpinion (11:37:55 PM): and you'd become a part of the military culture, which i dislike
religiousfriend (11:39:29 PM): I don't care for military culture
religiousfriend (11:39:45 PM): I don't want to become a further drain on taxpayer resources
religiousfriend (11:39:56 PM): besides which, the AF is scaling down its officer corps
NotMySecondOpinion (11:42:37 PM): what do your other plans comprise of?
religiousfriend (11:43:27 PM): I'm thinking of entering a monastery
religiousfriend (11:43:40 PM): other than that, law school/grad school
NotMySecondOpinion (11:45:04 PM): is there any incident you can think of that prompted your religiosity?
religiousfriend (11:45:20 PM): a realization of my own finitude
NotMySecondOpinion (11:46:12 PM): thats rather abstract.
religiousfriend (11:46:23 PM): When I was ten, I remember thinknig
NotMySecondOpinion (11:46:31 PM): was it from reading something or doing something?
religiousfriend (11:46:31 PM): "ah, I've lived through one eighth of my life"
religiousfriend (11:46:49 PM): I've read a lot of things
religiousfriend (11:46:54 PM): I've done a lot of things
religiousfriend (11:47:18 PM): but faith is something from God. You can't get it by your own efforts
NotMySecondOpinion (12:02:28 AM): how do you define faith?
religiousfriend (12:02:41 AM): I'm still working on that one
religiousfriend (12:02:54 AM): But ultimately Faith is personal
NotMySecondOpinion (12:04:05 AM): i'm just wondering why you think it comes from God
religiousfriend (12:04:37 AM): Well, from the Materialist side people could say it comes from all kinds of chemical reactions
religiousfriend (12:05:27 AM): but at any rate, I don't have enough faith to faithfully answer your question
NotMySecondOpinion (12:06:18 AM): I disagree with the statement that it comes from all kinds of chemicals
NotMySecondOpinion (12:08:09 AM): I think Faith comes from a strong desire/belief in the connections you make with others and the world around you. Those connections are immaterial, but they might be represented by chemical reactions that take place concordantly or disconcordantly, depending on whether or not your Faith is misplaced
religiousfriend (12:10:54 AM): that's a bit over my head
NotMySecondOpinion (12:14:43 AM): i didn't know what faith meant until i loved someone. i could never really know if they loved me back. that's when i had to decide whether or not I could step back and relinquish control of ... almost everything and just have faith.
religiousfriend (12:15:36 AM): I think you're getting close
religiousfriend (12:15:56 AM): but I don't have much faith, so what can I say
NotMySecondOpinion (12:16:02 AM): yeah, i don't know where God fits in there.
NotMySecondOpinion (12:16:20 AM): thats what i was hoping you could help me with
religiousfriend (12:16:35 AM): mmm, it's hard for me to give what I don't really have
religiousfriend (12:16:42 AM): It's important to be humble, first of all
religiousfriend (12:17:06 AM): Hell is full of people who think they're too good for Heaven
NotMySecondOpinion (12:18:31 AM): what does that mean?
religiousfriend (12:19:16 AM): Well, according to the Faith, Hell and Heaven are the same place
religiousfriend (12:19:34 AM): Think of Gollum
religiousfriend (12:19:44 AM): and how he hated the Lembas bread
religiousfriend (12:20:04 AM): and other elvish things
religiousfriend (12:20:39 AM): Those "in Hell" experience the glory of God in the same manner
religiousfriend (12:20:57 AM): because their hearts are too prideful
NotMySecondOpinion (12:21:31 AM): we make our own heaven, then.
religiousfriend (12:21:57 AM): We don't really "make" it
religiousfriend (12:22:00 AM): we accept it
religiousfriend (12:22:12 AM): but yes, ultimately Faith is a matter of the heart
religiousfriend (12:26:40 AM): http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/ anyway, this site is much more articulate than me in expressing this sort of thing
religiousfriend (12:26:51 AM): I suggest you add it to your google reader
religiousfriend (12:28:09 AM): http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/christianity-in-a-one-storey-universe/ this might be of interest to you
NotMySecondOpinion (12:29:20 AM): he spells story weird
religiousfriend (12:30:48 AM): that's to distinguish storey as in a building with story as in a book
NotMySecondOpinion (12:35:07 AM): ah
NotMySecondOpinion (12:52:59 AM): i'll definitely have to read more of that later
NotMySecondOpinion (12:53:10 AM): for now, i'm off to do more work. ttyl!